On 19th January, 2-4pm, Tsitsi Chataika from the University of Zimbabwe will speak on the subject of ‘Reconsidering the Postcolonial Debate: Intersecting Postcolonialism, Education and Disability for Genuine Sustainable Development’.

In this presentation, I argue for the need to reconsider the postcolonial debate by converging postcolonial theory, education and disability for sustainable development. The essence here is to provide an intertwined interdisciplinary discourse, which focuses on sustainable development. In the process, I align myself with Stuart Hall, who considers postcolonialism’s indecisive reception amongst differing constituencies as a sign of both, desire and danger. The debate around postcolonialism has been taken to extremes by various commentators, including those who claim to have experienced colonialism. Regrettably, the debates seem to be widening the misunderstanding gap; thus, working against global cohesion, which can bring sanity to sustainable global development. In unpacking this discussion, I consider the work of various postcolonial scholars namely Said, Bhabha, Ahluwalia, Mandela (popularly known as Madhibha); Barker and Murray; Parekh, Ghai, Grech and Meekosha. The need for a more emancipatory, rather than an appeasing and/or confrontational postcolonial stance, is argued for. This argument is based on the need to integrate postcolonial theory with education and disability for sustainable development. Against this backdrop, the presentation then provides a summative account, which demonstrates how an intertwined disciplinary discourse can promote ‘a marriage of commitment’ (as opposed to convenience) to both global North and global South parties, with view to outgrowing the ‘bickering stage’ and mainly focus on sincere ways of attaining the post-2015 sustainable development goals.

Biography

Tsitsi Chataika, a PhD graduate of Sheffield of University, is a senior lecturer in inclusive education in the Department of Educational Foundations, which falls under the Faculty of Education at the University of Zimbabwe. Her research interests include the connection of disability, gender, education, childhood studies, development and postcolonialism. Tsitsi has been conducting disability awareness and mainstreaming workshops in countries such as Kenya, Malawi, South Sudan, Zambia and Zimbabwe. She recently developed a gender and disability mainstreaming training manual, which can be used by various stakeholders in Africa and beyond. In 2012, she set up a Zimbabwe Disability Inclusive Development Forum, which brings together disability activists, researchers, policy makers and ordinary citizens in order to network, share information, best practices, opinions and ideas, as well as lobby and advocate for disability inclusion in development processes in Zimbabwe. Tsitsi was part of a three-member team that recently evaluated a three-year inclusive education programme in Zimbabwe covering 30 model schools, which was initiated by Lenard Cheshire International, in collaboration with the country’s Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education. Tsitsi is a board member in various disability-related organisations. Her recent publications include:

Chataika, T. and Mckenzie, A. J. (2016). Global institutions and their engagement with disability mainstreaming in the South: Development and (dis)connections. In S. Grech & K. Soldatic (Eds). Disability in the Global South: The Critical Handbook. London: Springer.

Chataika, T. ( 2016). African Perspectives on Article 24 of the CRPD. In G. Quinn and C. O’Mahony (Eds). The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Comparative, Regional and Thematic Perspectives. Cambridge: Intersentia.

Chabaya, O. and Chataika, T. (2013) Roles and Responsibilities of Supervisors and Research Students/Candidates. In S. Modesto (Ed). Preparing Your Dissertation/Thesis at a Distance: A Research Guide. Publisher: Vancouver: Virtual University For Small States of the Commonwealth, 77-99. Available at http://www.vuscc.info/download/A_Research_Guide

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Published by jenslater

I am a senior lecturer in Education and Disability Studies at Sheffield Hallam University. My research is around youth, disability, gender and sexuality. My latest project begins with toilets to think about gender and disability, and question often simplistic notions of 'access'.
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